Germany was represented by Max and the song "Can't Wait Until Tonight" at the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, held in Istanbul, Turkey. The German representative for Istanbul itself was chosen on March 19 in the national final Germany 12 Points!.

The show was held at the Treptow Arena in Berlin and hosted by Jörg Pilawa & Sarah Kuttner. German record companies were still responsible for nominating the German finalists; however, newcomers would no longer be allowed to participate - instead, the participating singers had to have at least one professional music video produced. The winner was chosen by televoting and SMS voting. A maximum of 12 songs participated and German TV Channel VIVA started playing videos of the songs in January 2004. The 'wildcard' was chosen at the last minute (this had to be someone who had been very successful in Germany during the early months of 2004). Max and Tina Frank were the chosen wildcards.

After the German national final, Sarah Kuttner stated that she and her co-host Jörg Pilawa did not get along very well. She stated that he had taken over some of her lines without telling her, which led to confusion during the live broadcast.[1] Pilawa could also been seen doing faces when Kuttner announced contestant Tina Frank. Later, during a green room scene, Kuttner ironically stated "When I am older, I will marry Jörg Pilawa. Jörg, I love you from the bottom of my heart." Kuttner has also been criticised for using the German words for "crap" and "shit" during the live broadcast, which usually does not happen on a public channel.

Releases

Like every year since 1996, a compilation CD with all entries was revealed. As compilations cannot enter the album charts in Germany, little can be said about its commercial success. The compilation CD also included the song "Right here" by Masha, which was one of the eligible wildcards but did not make it to the national final after all, because it did not reach the top 20 in the single charts. As a bonus track, the CD included "Every Way That I Can" by Sertab Erener, winner of the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest.

Chart successes

For the first time ever, all entries in the national final managed to reach the German singles charts. Furthermore, some of the songs also made it to the singles charts in Austria and Switzerland. Max was the first German entrant topping the singles charts since Nicole in 1982, and overall his song was the fourth German entry at number one.

At Eurovision

At Eurovision, Max delivered a simple performance with stools and a band surrounding him on the stage. During the performance, he swapped between using English and Turkish and overall produced a memorable stage act. Max scored Germany 93 points and a successful 8th place.